High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire

Visit High Wycombe and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

High WycombeBuckinghamshire. With a population of 120,000, High Wycombe is the largest town in Buckinghamshire.

Wycombe is a combination of industrial and market town. There has been a market held in the High Street since Medieval times but the town has always had an industrial aspect, which in the 17th century was prevalent.

The name ‘Wycombe’ comes from the river Wye, and the old English word for a valley, ‘Combe’. Wycombe appears in the Domesday Book and was noted for having six mills. The town once had a Roman Villa (2 A.D). High Wycombe was also notable for being the site of a minor English Civil War battle featuring John Hampden.

The existence of a settlement at High Wycombe was first documented in 970, as Wicumun. The town received market borough status in 1237, although the market has featured in the town about a century earlier.

High Wycombe remained a mill town through Medieval and Tudor times, with the manufacture of lace and linen cloth. It was also used as a stopping point on the way from Oxford to London, with many travellers staying in the town's inns and taverns. The paper industry was the leader in 17th and 18th century High Wycombe. The Wye's waters were rich in chalk, and therefore ideal for bleaching the pulp. The paper industry had soon taken over from cloth.

Furniture, Wycombe's most famous industry, took hold in the 19th century, with furniture factories setting up all over the town. Firms like Parker Knoll and Ercol remain household names. Many terraced workers houses were built to the east and west of town to accommodate people working in the furniture factories.

High Wycombe was home to Benjamin Disraeli, who was defeated as an independent candidate in 1832. Disraeli made his first political speech in Wycombe, from the portico over the door of the Red Lion Hotel on the High Street (now Woolworths).

Buckinghamshire is one of the few counties that still have a selective educational system. Therefore, Wycombe contains some prestigious grammar schools including Wycombe High School, John Hampden Grammar School and the Royal Grammar School. The Wycombe Abbey School is a private all girls school, where students can board. High Wycombe has the main campus of Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College.

The railway station on the Chiltern Line between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill is close to the town centre. It is possible to get to London in 30 minutes from Wycombe station on the faster trains.

High Wycombe has two junctions on the M40. The M40 eastbound goes to the M25, Uxbridge and London. Westbound, the M40 goes past Thame, Oxford, Bicester and Banbury to Birmingham. The A404 goes south to Marlow and Maidenhead, and northeast to Amersham and Chesham. The A4010 goes to Aylesbury. The A40 carries local traffic west to West Wycombe and Stokenchurch and east to Beaconsfield.

Heathrow, approximately 20 miles away, is the closest international airport to High Wycombe. Booker, on the edge of the town, has a local airport. The airports of Luton, Gatwick and Stansted, reached by a short drive down the M40 and then the M25, are not very far away.

The town centre, revamped at the beginning of the nineties, has two shopping centres: the Octagon centre and the Chilterns centre. The High Street, with a number of 18th and 19th century buildings, ends at the colonnaded Guildhall, and small octagonal shaped Cornmarket, known locally as the Pepper Pot. Opposite stands the large medieval parish church of All Saints, which was founded in 1086. The large and well-equipped theatre, the Wycombe Swan, hosts many West End acts and shows.

Benjamin Disraeli lived at Hughenden Manor, built in the Regency period, for three decades in the mid-19th century. The three floor mansion is situated in its own extensive and beautifully landscaped gardens which back onto the attractive Chiltern countryside. This historical attraction is open to the public all year round.

Have you decided to visit High Wycombe or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

a High Wycombe bed and breakfast (a High Wycombe B&B or High Wycombe b and b)

a High Wycombe guesthouse

a High Wycombe hotel (or motel)

a High Wycombe self-catering establishment, or

other High Wycombe accommodation

Accommodation in High Wycombe:

Find availability in a High Wycombe bed and breakfast, also known as B&B or b and b, guesthouse, small hotel, self-catering or other accommodation.

Squirrel HouseAt Squirrel House bed and breakfast accommodation you'll get the sort of welcome and attention that you would expect from the Irish! We're very conveniently located whether you're visiting the Cressex Business Park or coming to explore the beautiful Chiltern countryside. Close to the popular riverside town of Marlow-on-Thames.

CloversClovers offers a really warm welcome, comfy beds and a cosy atmosphere in a delightful home in the Chilterns between Amersham, Beaconsfield & High Wycombe. Free wi-fi, off road parking, close to countryside, yet within easy access to the M40, M25, Heathrow -30min, Windsor -35min, Oxford -35min. Amersham station is 5mls away with underground or Railway into London -30mins.

Malvern HouseMalvern House 4*, combines modern hotel style elegance with the affordability and convenience of a bed and breakfast, offering 9 fully en-suite bedrooms. Quiet, family run and 4 Star rated, it suits those looking for a place to stay near to Cressex Industrial Park, Town Centre, and Marlow. Heathrow Airport, West London, Windsor and Oxford all within 30 minute drive.